Carving-fork guard



(No Model.)

B E WOOD Jr OARVING' PORK GUARD.

N0. 503,303. Patented Aug. 15, 1393.

UNITED STATES! '3 ATENT OFFICE.

EDWVARD E. VOOD, JR, OF NORTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

CARVING-FORK GUARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 503,303, dated August 15, 1893.

Application filed July 21, 1892. Serial No. 440,774. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD E. 00D, J12, a citizen of the United States of America, residing in Northampton, in the county of Hampshire and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Carving-Fork Guards, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and letters of reference marked thereon.

In the drawings, like letters of reference in dicate like parts.

Figure 1 is a side view of a portion of a fork showing my improvement, the guard being closed down upon the tines, and being shown in dotted lines in its raised position. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same in section, showing the guard raised. Fig. 8 is a like View showing the guard closed down. Fig. 4 is a side View in section showing the guard in a raised position and showing the spring mounted in an opening made through the guard, and Fig. 5 is alike view of another modification wherein the spring rod is bent at an angle and held in position by being projected through the guard.

In detail, a indicates the handle, 1) the shank, c the tines, cl the guard, cl the bifurcated portion thereof,@ the pivot, f the spring, and h a recess in the shank.

The general appearance of my device does dot differ materially from the carving forks provided with guards heretofore made. The means, however, for maintaining the guard in its open and closed position differ from those heretofore employed and consist of a spring f preferably of wire which is mounted in the guard cl and projects downward a sufficient distance to enter the opening it in the shank, against the wall of which opening the proj ecting end of the spring bears and maintains the guard in its open or vertical position, this opening being of sufficient size to allow the end of the spring to easily escape therefrom when the guard is turned upon its pivot. The guard is maintained in its closed or horizontal position by the action of the same spring, its end bearing upon the surface of the shank. The spring f fits tightly at its upper portion within the guard ti, and the guard has an enlarged opening at its lower end sufficient to allow the necessary play of the spring when the guard is turned upon its pivot. It will readllybe seen that a round, square, or flat spring may be employed, and that instead of its being held in position in the guard by contact with the walls of the smaller openings, rivets may be passed through the guard and spring, or screws employed to hold the same in position.

In Fig. 4 I have illustrated a modification, wherein the spring is projected through the whole of the body (Z of the guard, and in this instance the portion of the guard d near its pivotal connection with the shank upon the.

side toward the tines of the fork is milled through to the spring receiving opening, thus allowing ample play for the spring as the guard is turned upon its pivot, and in Fig. 5 is illustrated another modification wherein is shown the spring carried up through a milled recess a short distance and then bent sharply so as to pass transversely through an opening in the part (1 to the shank where it is riveted or otherwise fastened in position, thus avoiding the necessity of constructing the recesses with the same accuracy that would be required in the construction first described.

I am aware that a carving fork has been heretofore made having a guard pivotally mounted upon the surface of the shank, and provided with a pin having longitudinal movement in the guard, and provided with a spiral spring arranged to thrust the pin outwardly, and I make no claim to such construction, as my device is provided with a spring having lateral movement at its free end and is fixed within the guard so that the spring performs the double function of a look and spring and rust will not interfere with the operation of the device.

I am also aware that a carving fork has heretofore been provided with a guard having the spring made integral therewith, the spring having lateral movement and engaging an elevated shoulder arranged for its free end to bear against. This form of construction, however, is expensive and difficult of manufacture and my device differs fromit in that the spring maybe made of any ordinary spring wire, and the springs tempered with out in any mannerinterfering with the guard,

and the material composing the spring and guard may be of different material, and if a spring become broken another may be readily substituted and the spring in my device is arranged within the guard body and is, therefore, protected and the shank of the fork is provided with a recess within which the end of the recess being enlarged to permit the vibration of the bow spring, the shank of the fork being indented or recessed to receive the free end of the spring, substantially as described.

2. In a carving fork, the combination, with a shank, of a guard pivotally mounted thereon, and a bow spring, the guard having a recess, the upper end of which is curved or crooked and receives the spring snugly fitted therein so as to be stationarily mounted in the guard, but the lower end of the recess being open on one side to permit the vibration of the bow spring, the shank of the fork being indented or recessed to receive the free end of the spring, substantially as described.

EDWARD E. WOOD, JR. Witnesses:

E. E. WOOD, JULEs BELoIN. 

